APCNews
– February 28 2011
– Year XI
Issue 136 • Every thirty months the amount of information
that
can be transmitted over a wireless internet connection doubles.
Wireless could be the way to provide affordable broadband to millions
of people currently living with poor connectivity. However the policy
and regulation related to spectrum is often inefficient, secretive and
ill-informed. A global shift in spectrum regulation is currently
under-way and regulatory reforms are being developed and proposed in
many different countries. As part of APC's work on open
spectrum
for development, we have commissioned studies in five
countries
to identify loopholes in current policies and recognise good
practices. Previously we covered Kenya and
Nigeria,
now read our
features on India and South Africa. And watch out for Brazil in the
coming weeks.

NEW
YORK (Take back the tech! for APC) – Boyfriends and girlfriends rarely
make commitments and plans to delete private photographs of each other
when they snap them. What happens when the relationship breaks
down and one of them decides to post them online? What about the people
who receive and forward the images and videos? In each act of viewing
and forwarding, they are continuing and replicating the violence.
APC is launching a new campaign to stop the spread of violence by
committing not to forward abusive messages. We invite you to take a
stand.
More>

CALGARY
(LC for APCNews) - As one of the world's fastest growing economies and
with over 65% of its billion-plus population under 35, India has huge
potential. But according to a new report by Shyam Ponappa, commissioned
by APC the current model for managing spectrum in India could be a huge
barrier to the country's economic and social development. Instead, he
suggests that "it would be much more conducive to a sound economy...to
have two to three main operators as we do with the provision of
utilities.
More>

GULMARG
(LC for APCNews) – “Open spectrum is important because access is
important” says Steve Song, telecommunications fellow at the
Shuttleworth Foundation in an interview with APCNews. But in South
Africa, the problem is not lack of access - it's that access is not
affordable. Freeing up wireless spectrum, such as television white
spaces --the space between channels-- or making more information
available on spectrum that is currently not in use could help to make
affordable access a reality. Song is the author of a new country survey
report commissioned by APC in which he explores how spectrum is
currently managed in South Africa, and the barriers that are blocking
availability.
More
>

MONTREAL
(Evan Light for APCNews) - Most communications policies around the
globe have been developed on models based on the economic, political
and social realities of North America and Europe – which assume large
private companies build expansive national wired
infrastructures.
So laws and regulations have evolved with the understanding that these
wired networks are the main communication infrastructure and that
wireless networks connect through them. But wired networks do
not
exist in many developing countries and do not necessarily need to be
built.
More>